Typhon's greatest fury was in 1669, when Etna burned down 10 villages and the city walls of Catania. While Typhon used his anger to always be remembered by people, Etna is famous for tourists who want to explore the world because of the magnificence of nature.
.jpg_14.jpg)
Nbeautiful daughter of Sicily
After visiting the cities of the European wonderland, I decided to challenge myself. After much deliberation, I decided to choose Sicily - the beautiful, historical island in the South of Italy. The great poet Goethe once said:“Coming to Italy without setting foot in Sicily is like not being in Italy, because Sicily is the clue to a thousand questions.”. Like a final arrow aimed at the little tourist, this majestic volcano made me voluntarily give a part of my heart to the fascinating land of Sicily.
.jpg_2.jpg)
Etna is one of the world's 16 decade volcanoes (the most important mountains for studying history and eruptions) and is one of the few volcanoes that is always in a state of continuous activity. This highest volcano in Europe (Etna is 3,350 m high) is one of the most popular tourist attractions on the vast island of Sicily. Etna is also called Muncibeddu, which in Sicilian means beautiful mountain. Indeed, Etna is like a beautiful but very proud girl, so before starting this journey, I knew for sure that I would need to have the highest level of patience, flexibility and endurance.
Cadmire thosechallenge
To get to Etna, I started by bus from the central station of Catania - the second largest city in Sicily, after the capital Palermo. For 2 hours, the bus will circle the foot of the mountain up to the station Rifugio Sapienza. Along both sides of the road are a few houses buried in dust and sand due to previous volcanic eruptions, only the roofs are visible through the winding curves and the bushes close to the ground. The next leg of the journey, the cable car system will connect from Sapienza station up to the middle of the mountain at an altitude of 2,500 m. There were two times in 1971 and 2001, Etna was like a queen waking up, angry and aggressive, erupting in anger and destroying the entire cable car system.
.jpg_11.jpg)
Stepping out of the cable car, strong winds rushed in, hitting the face as a “welcome” to visitors to Etna! For the last stretch, visitors can follow a special Jeep, or climb up the mountain themselves. However, I encouraged myself that with such a wonderful landscape, a special Jeep is probably only for tourists who do not dare to challenge themselves!
.jpg_5.jpg)
Because it contains constantly burning lava, the soil in Etna is only a plain black color, the entire towering mountain does not have a single small tree trunk. In the world of that proud, icy girl, there is only the black color of gravel, the white color of snow and the blue color of the sky and clouds. I quietly followed the lovesick climbers, moving silently, then occasionally stopping, looking, sniffing, and lifting the lens very gently as if afraid of regretting if I wake up the beautiful Digan. The distance of more than 500 m above sea level sounds simple, but in reality it is not easy. Weaving along the small roads winding around the mountain, slowly clinging to large patches of ice, then hiding when the bulky Jeeps strutted along will certainly be memories that have been nailed into my memory that no matter how many other places I travel to in the future, I will not be able to forget.
.jpg_9.jpg)
.jpg_1.jpg)
To climb to the top of Etna, you will need about two hours, there are times when you feel like you are out of breath, want to give up and wait for someone to come and rescue you. But in the end, you have to keep going, because you can only buy a Jeep ticket for both ways, once you want to stop, you have no means of going down except your numb feet. The further towards the end of the journey, the steeper the distance, along with the high air pressure, just breathing requires full attention. My companion seemed to realize that I was tired, constantly cheering me up with jokes but only received smiles in return because I was busy saving my energy for the steep mountain ahead. Far from the warm, somewhat hot weather even in winter of the cities at the foot of the mountain, the temperature at the top of Etna is very low, so those who want to conquer Etna need to prepare warm clothes, scarves, woolen hats and of course a pair of snow-proof, fur-lined climbing shoes.
.jpg_13.jpg)
Finally, after two hours of struggling, I reached the summit of Europe's highest volcano. With hot lava flowing inside, Etna always releases smoke into the air even on the mildest days. At the top of the majestic Etna, I felt like I was melting into the white clouds, the whole land of Western Sicily stretched out before my eyes, the huge cable car system was now just like small ants and at the far end was the endless blue ocean. Moments like that, when you have to hold your breath before the magnificent beauty of nature, are definitely worth the long journey of thousands of kilometers to conquer Etna.
.jpg_10.jpg)
If the way up was windy, snowy and challenging, the way down was very leisurely and leisurely. After noon, the sun began to appear behind the mountain peak, the gentle sunlight began to melt the small pieces of ice, flowing into streams on the Jeep tire tracks left on the ground. The whole group climbed down to the cable car station, enjoyed hot cups of tea and coffee, and enthusiastically discussed the beauty of Etna like young men fulfilling their dream of seeing the girl of their dreams.
.jpg_6.jpg)
In addition to the main volcano Etna, on the left side of Sapienza station there are two other volcanoes with relatively low height but are inactive. Tourists can visit both of these mountains to learn about the soil structure inside the volcano. The journey to Etna volcano, although only lasts for a day, will definitely be one of the journeys that leave the deepest impression on any tourist. If you always want to have a trip full of challenges and experiences, make sure the beautiful Etna is on your list of conquests.
More information
+ Itinerary: From Vietnam, you can go to Rome or Milan, Italy by flights of Qatar Airways, Emirates Airline. Then, go to Sicily by train of Treinitaly or plane of Alitalia, RyanAir.
+ Tour program: If you want to know more about the tour activities of the Etna volcano conquest tour, you can refer to: www.etnaexcursion.it, and choose a tour with the appropriate length, tour price from 75 EUR. In addition, if you want to explore Etna by yourself, you can refer to the climbing route guide at the website: www.etnatracking.com
+ Weather: In some European countries and Italy, after March is the end of winter, good weather is the ideal condition for you to conquer Mount Etna.
+ Note: You should start your trip in the morning when the snow has not melted yet to move easily and have more time to enjoy the scenery. You need to prepare good, waterproof climbing shoes to avoid catching a cold. At the same time, you should have extra food for lunch because there will be no restaurants or eateries on the way.
